Friday 11th to Tuesday 15th November 2011, Carriage and Wagon Works, Bury

Friday November 11th 2011
Attendance: 1

Adam was working alone today and, having done on a couple of items for the Class 15, made a start on preparation for Class 14 jobs that needed to be completed over the weekend. First on the list was to make up the last bracing piece for main reservoir air tank frames, bridging the gap between these and brake frame. Alan Lee was around so Adam ran his idea past him and, once agreed, then set about making it up. A piece of angle iron was sourced and marked it out. The plan was to secure it with bolts at each end, allowing easy removal if needed. The brake frame end was suitable to be drilled out but at the tank frame end a bracket would need to be made up and welded in.

Adam cut the metal to size, made the necessary holes with a Pillar drill and then bolted them together. The brace was secured to the brake frame with mole grips holding it whist Adam drilled two mounting holes. With that complete, all that was required was the welding to be completed the following day at the air tank end.

After lunch Adam went round to the steam shed to retrieve the cab flooring that had been left in there and moved it all across to the Class 14 storage space. The flooring exchanged places in storage with the exhaust and water header cowling which was taken up to the loco for refitting over the weekend. The recently glossed air timing tanks and 'A' end horn box were also moved from store and taken over to the loco. The air tanks were refitted but one of these required a cork gasket making to cushion securing straps. Adam found that even using the thinnest cork, the straps that had been made were too short and so they were put to one side to be lengthened.

Once back at the loco, Adam lifted the exhaust cowl into place on the 'A' end bonnet and checked that the bolt holes all lined up correctly which they did. The securing holes will need to be tapped out so a sample bolt was taken to identify the correct sized tap for the job. During the fitting it was noted that the vent off pipe which runs behind the exhaust didn't line up with the designated hole so the exhaust cover will need to be modified to suit. This and the other jobs would wait until Saturday and that brought the day's work to a close.

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Saturday November 12th 2011
Attendance: 4

Adam, Jim and Kris made a start on clearing up some of the outstanding jobs. First off, Jim welded the strengthener bracket Adam has contructed the day before onto the main reservoir tank frame. This only took a few minutes to complete and with that complete Jim modified the air tank straps identified as being too short the previous day. The solution involved removing the original threaded metal, cutting some longer pieces and welding these into place. Once welded and given a few minutes to cool down Jim then fixed down the tank with the adapted straps.

Meanwhile Adam was working on the exhaust cover, the modifications required for the vent pipe were marked out and Kris cut away what wasn't needed with a grinder. Adam ran the tap through the holes located in the cab wall so that the bolts would tighten up easily. Once Kris had finished the cutting, the cover was put in place and bolted up. Adam and Kris then went to find the 'B' end bonnet roof and marked out on some cork the shape for a gasket, this section will be refitted to the loco in the coming weeks. Kris did the cutting for this and Adam was able to use the offcuts to make up a gasket for the 'A' end horn cover. A tap was then run through the holes for this as well and the cover bolted down.

Meanwhile Jason was working on making some piping for the emergency brake pressure drop valve. The main task was to cut some steel to make up 2 flanges. Jason sourced some thick steel and marked out the shape of the flanges and then carried out the lengthy process of cutting them out then, with these ready, some short lengths of 2" pipe were cut and threaded and finally welded to the flanges by Jim.

While Kris tightened up items on the brake frame Jim and Adam then turned their attentions to the nose end doors as both sets were still not quite closing as we would like. 'A' end doors were looked at first, these fitted into the opening correctly with a constant gap but needed minor adjustments to allow for any repositioning. Jim attacked the problem with a grinding disc to provide satisfactory clearances. The 'B' end was slightly different with the left hand door having a large gap at the top but a small gap at the bottom, suggesting a hinge problem. The top hinge was cut, then the door placed into the correct position and the hinge welded back up again. Some more fine tuning with the grinder followed and the 'B' end doors now close correctly.

The 'Door Squad' then had a look at one of the 'B' end side doors that had become bent and wasn't shutting as a result. The solution here required a different, grinder-less approach. The door was removed from the loco, laid across a piece of wood placed on the floor then, with positions allocated, Jim and Adam stood on opposite corners of the door and gently bounced up and down to straighten it. This was a success, reversing the worst of the bend. The straightened door was offered back up and the locking mechanism tweaked a little more until it shut perfectly, bringing the day to a close.

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Sunday November 13th 2011
Attendance: 5

Jason continued with the emergency brake pressure drop valve pipework from the day before, now making modifications for fitting into the drivers desk and cab. As with many remaining tasks, the buildup of components and fitting 2 inch pipe in an already confined space made this something of a challenge! Gilbert was also on site with two other willing helpers sanding down different areas of the 14 ready to apply undercoat and the first top coat where ready.

Adam finished off the 'B' end bonnet gasket that had been cut by Kris the previous day, marking out the locations for bolt holes then, using a hole cutter and hammer, punching them out and finally test fitting to make sure everything lined up. Adam also made cork bases to cushion the loco's two fire extinguisher bottles, these were fitted by lifting both bottles up onto pieces of wood whilst the cork was laid in the bottom of their holders. For the last of the bonnet preparation, Adam checked the bolt sizes required for fitting and ran a tap through the captive nuts in the cab wall to avoid any problems.

After lunch Adam made a start on some painting. The extinguishers were given a rub down with sand paper and then treated to a coat of red paint. Next the brake frame was tackled, some areas had been treated to primer but other areas needed preparing and painting from scratch. Adam gave some rusty areas a light sanding and then spent a couple of hours painting primer onto areas of the brake frame that required it.

Jason had finished making up the pipes for the emergency brake pressure drop valve and had assembled everything ready for fitting under the central console of the 14. This was duly completed and everything lined up and fitted as it should. This valve is a new installation and as a result some of the console covers now need altering to fit correctly. Jason marked and cut one of these so that it can be further marked and adapted to allow the valve handle to come through the cover before refitting.

And that brought the weekend to a close. More jobs have been ticked off and the running return of 'Ernest' is getting ever closer.

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Tuesday November 15th 2011
Attendance: 1

Early-ish start for Rob Mason today as he makes it up to Bury for a mid-week session on D9531. The work started in earnest (no pun intended) with the one and only fire bottle stay, still in unrestored condition. This was given a quick once-over with the wire wheel and primer applied. This was left to dry and Rob moved onwards to rhe carriage and wagon shed for some painting, painting and more painting!

One of the many outstanding painting jobs was glossing the brake frame. A new support bracket had been welded in over the weekend and primer applied which had now dried nicely.

Next up was to continue painting the brake pipes, picking them out in regulation white. This has to be the most laborious job at the best of times as there are so many pipes but if tackled in chunks it can be done and it looks great when finished.

A break from painting allowed another job on the list to be ticked off, refitting the radiator grilles with the help of our very own lovable paint guy Gilbert, who assisted with lifting the grills in to place. Once in position they were fully secured using the original bolts. The two fire bottles were also temporarily refitted and secured using the strap fresh in green primer and a couple of zip ties.

To finish the day off a little more painting was done on the brake frame and the brake pipes before packing everything up and heading home.